Afghan women, Panjshir PRT women chat

Published Nov. 12, 2006
By Capt. Joe Campbell
Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team

PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- Women across the province meet here monthly with the female members of the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team to learn from each other and exchange ideas.

Affectionately known as "Chick Chats," the cultural exchange was the brainchild of the U.S. Agency for International Development representative on the Panjshir PRT as an outreach for the Panjshiri women. Local Afghan female leaders organize and convene the meetings.

"We wanted to help extend the reach of female leaders in the valley as well as to reach out to an underrepresented and illusive segment of the Panjshiri population," said Amy Frumin, the USAID Field Program Officer assigned to the Panjshir PRT. "So we decided to have informal meetings with groups of women of all ages in each of the six districts."
Mirium Jon, the Panjshir Director of Women's Affairs, hosted the first meeting at her office in Bazarak in August. Roughly 30 women attended the first session.

"The meetings are also an opportunity to distribute humanitarian assistance items such as donated clothing and personal hygiene kits," said Frumin, a Greenwich, Connecticut native.

The Panjshir PRT medics ran a small MEDCAP, or Medical Civic Action Program, just for the women and their children in conjunction with the Bazarak meeting.
The team held their second meeting in the Paryan District in late August and said the gatherings truly are an opportunity for exchange from both sides.

"It gives us a chance to really learn first-hand about the Afghan culture and gives them a chance to ask us questions about our culture and being in the military," said Senior Airman Candace Kerr, an information management specialist deployed from Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.

The meetings open with an overview of a typical day for women in their district and usually turn to the women's goals and priorities.

"Their day begins at sunrise with livestock chores and making bread and tea," said Senior Airman Pamela Johnson, a driver for the team who is deployed from MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. "The women rank education as one of their highest priorities -- a lot of them want to go to college."

Unfortunately, many women are unable to go to college outside of Panjshir if they do not have family near the school with whom they can live, explained Frumin.

In September, the group met in the Shutol District with 45 women including Provincial Council member Dr. Humaira Dawoud and Director Mirium Jon. The latest session found the group in the Anaba District. At the latest chats, they discussed everything from economic issues to the national custom of wearing burkas.

"In many respects they are a very empowered group of people," said Frumin. "For example, across all four meetings the women explained that it was their choice to wear the burka and they choose to wear it to demonstrate their virtue as Muslim women."